Snakes are truly one of the scariest and strangest creatures on Earth. Their ability to slither quickly, shed their skins, and camouflage with their surroundings makes them dangerously cool. But its pretty horrifying to think that some of them are longer than a car and able to swallow a large animal whole. Ingesting live prey is completely normal but, like many animals, snakes are prone to swallowing something that could threaten their lives. As reported by Time, the latter happened when a family caught their pet python swallowing a beach towel in Sydney, Australia. Maybe she was packing for a road trip to the beach?
The snake was swiftly brought into the Small Animal Specialist Hospital (are pythons considered small there?!) for immediate intervention. The animal hospital posted a video on its Facebook page about the incident, which took place on February 19. The images and live surgical video might make some people a little squeamish, so give it a click at your own risk.
In the clip, several specialists worked together to pull a beach towel out of the 10-foot-long female Jungle Carpet python named Monty. Honestly, it’s the most obvious yet clever name for a python, right? The 18-year-old snake was put under anesthesia while the team took radiographs to discern where the towel was in her body. Then, forceps were used to extract the towel from her body.
One specialist could be seen holding Monty’s body as another pulled the towel out in a swift move. The snake’s body seems to decompress from all the extra junk back into its regular shape. Yikes. Again, Monty was medicated and didn’t have to feel anything during those tense moments.
Small Animal Specialist Hospital
At the end, someone holds up the big, bright beach towel to show what it looks like after being inside a snake. Hilariously, the light blue towel has bananas, strawberries, and watermelons all over it. Perhaps Monty likes a little fruit with her meals? Or, maybe she was eating a spread on the towel and ingested it along with her food. Who knows?!
The Small Animal Specialist Hospital made a Facebook statement about how this case was so unusual—even though they are used to seeing extraordinary things all the time. “We see all kinds of interesting cases in our Avian and Exotics Department, but it’s not every day we see something quite as unusual and as extraordinary as this case.”
It seems like it would be a terrible procedure with possible pain and complications afterward, but the animal hospital assured Facebook viewers that Monty is just fine. In fact, she was released the same day and her owners say she’s back to her normal—and very hungry self—again. This time, the family might want to double check and make 100 percent sure that all beach towels and blankets are put away before Monty’s next big meal.
That was a close call, Monty the python. If you’re ready for a beach day, just ask your humans to pack you a bag.
Image Credit: Pexels